Sometimes, Randy Johnson says, he feels as though he`s in a three-ring circus. ”And I`m in the center of the ring,” he said.
That`s the way it is when you`re a 6-foot-10-inch pitcher.
`I`ve gotten a lot of press because of my height,” Johnson said. And he hears the same questions over and over.
”People ask me how tall I am and why I don`t play basketball,” said Johnson, the tallest player in professional baseball. ”But I`d rather pitch and be 6-10, than be on the court and be just another basketball player.
”I played three years of basketball in high school and I played a little in college my junior year at USC.”
But by then, Johnson was already in love with baseball.
”I played Little League baseball and by the time I got to high school and played basketball, I already had seven or eight years of baseball under my belt,” Johnson said. ”Basketball was just something to do because I was tall.
”I had a scholarship at USC to play baseball and basketball. But during my junior year, I told (then-USC basketball coach) Stan Morrison, I wanted to pay more attention to baseball because it was my junior year and the baseball draft was coming up.”
Now it appears his decision to pitch instead of dunk is a good one.
The Montreal Expos drafted Johnson in the second round of the 1985 June amateur free-agent draft. And the 23-year-old lefty might be with the Expos before the season is over.
Johnson, who weighs 230 pounds, has been virtually unhittable this season in 11 starts with the Expos` Double-A affiliate in Jacksonville, Fla. He had a sparkling 7-1 record and was second in the Southern League with a 2.63 earned run average.
He leads the league in strikeouts–his fastball is timed consistently in the mid-90s–with 85 in 62 innings. He has allowed only 37 hits, but has given up a league-leading 70 walks.
”I see Randy going to the big leagues and being very successful,”
Jacksonville manager Tommy Thompson said. ”We just want him to get consistent and sharpen his control. He`s got a pretty smooth motion for a guy his size. He winds up and all of a sudden–boom!–the ball`s right on top of you. He doesn`t exactly give you much time to react.”
After being drafted in 1985, Johnson was 0-3 with Jamestown in the New York-Penn League that summer. Last year he improved, posting an 8-7 record with a 3.16 ERA, striking out 133 batters in 120 innings with 94 walks for West Palm Beach in the Florida State League.
”He`s a power pitcher,” said Jacksonville pitching coach Joe Kerrigan, who roomed with 6-7 Tim Stoddard when both were with the Baltimore Orioles.
”He has one of those arms that comes around once out of 10 years. The sky`s the limit for him.”
By the time Johnson releases the ball, it would appear that he`s closer to the plate than other pitchers. But Kerrigan said that`s not the case.
”His stride is not unusually long for a big man,” Kerrigan said. ”He probably releases the ball four to six inches closer to home plate than other pitchers. But I would like to see some high speed film from the side to see when he does release the ball.”
The only thing keeping Johnson in the minor leagues is his control. The Expos have Johnson on a 115-pitch limit, which means he rarely goes past seven innings.
